Tool for chamfering and burring



'March 31, 1942.

H. l.. BARTER ET AL TDOL FOR CHAMFERING AND BURRING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 11, 1955 March 31, 1942. L; BARTER ETAL 2,278,300

T OOL FOR CHMFERING AND BURRING Original Filed Oct. 11, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmh 31, 1942. H, BAR-HER ETAL 2,278,300

TOOL FOR CHAMFRING AND BURRING Or'ginal Filed Oct. ll, 1955 3 SheebS--Shee'l'I 3 Patented Mar. 31, 1942 TOOL FOR CHAMFERING .AND BURRING Harry L. Barter and John M. Christmam'Detroit, f Mich., assignors to Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigall ' Original application October 11, 1935, Serial No. 44,629, now Patent No. 2,206,443, dated July 2, 1940. Divided and this application I'April 1, 1.940, Serial No. 327,328

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a gear forming and finishing tool and lhas for its Yobject the provision of a `to'cl of "this 'character which will rapidly and eriiiciently lcharnfer the edges of gear teeth or remove the burrs at the intersection of the working surfaces of the teeth and the end faces thereof and at the outer ends of the teeth. This application'is a division of our` prior application, Serial No. 44,629, filed October 11, 1935, Patent 2,206,443, July 2', 1940.

The chamfering of gears, commonly done by hand by means of a file, not only serves to `prevent the breaking off during use of the gears of small particles of metal, which is obviously high--y ly objectionable in the event the gears are used in an automobile transmission or other.` closed lubricated housing, but in the case of gears which are axially shifta-ble into and out of mesh, such as starter gears or gears employed in change speed transmissions, the meshing of the gears is facilitated by the provision of cooperating chamfered or beveled edges. f n

It has been heretofore proposed to provide machines for effecting the chamfering of gears to replace the hand chamfering commonly employed,v but these machines rely for the most part on a cutting operation which is difficult to execute with accuracy and which is likelygto leave burrs or rough edges on the teeth whichv are equally as objectionable as 'the original burrs on the freshly cut gear teeth. The present invention eliminates these difficulties by providing a tool `which may be used to effect chamfering of the teeth by deformation of each tooth by the application of pressure thereto before the gear is hardened. If desired, the material displaced as the result `ofl such deformation may be removed by grinding or cutting, but under some circumstances this step may be eliminated.

In a more specific aspect thereof, the invention contemplates the provision of a hardened toothed element which may be rolled with an unhardened gear, the latter having the'lateral end portions of the vworking Vfaces of `the teeth thereof deformed, whereby corresponding de# formation of the end portions of the teeth' of the unhardened gear `may vbe effected `to provide the desired chamfer. Cutting means may be associated with the hardened element and disposed adjacent the chamfered ends ofthe teeth for removing excess metal as `it is displaced from the body of the tooth.

A further object is to provide a tool .having axially spaced toothed portions for engagement with the lateral end portions of the working faces J of the teeth of a gear to deform the latter, the ltool having an intermediate portion adapted to engage Vwith the outer circumference of the Vgear teeth to exert thereon a scrubbing or grinding action, whereby Hburr's may be removed. The invention contemplates either the separateor the combined employment of the various features outlined `herein in a tool for treating and finishing gears, clutches, or like toothed elements.

The tool claimed herein may be manually applied't'o a gear to be chamfered, or may be used in conjunction with any suitable supportingV or operating means. We prefer, however, to employ the tool in a machine of the type shown and claimed in our prior application aforesaid, and such a machine is partially represented and described herein.

Thus it is proposed in our prior application to render 'the chamfering and burr removing operationpartly or wholly automatic, the machine for leffecting the chamfering being controlled by a tooth forming or cutting apparatus. A gear bobbing machine of more or less conventional design is employed, the hob being fed into the gear blank to form the teeth thereon, and the chamfering machine is responsive to the feeding movement of the hob, whereby the chamfering operation is definitely timed and requires no attention on Vthe part of the operator once the machine has been adjusted to perform the necessary operations. andto terminate the chamfering and burr removing operation at predetermined instants so as to eliminate the human factor and thereby to produce gears of increased uniformity. Furthermore, the timing of the gear chamfering machine may be such that the chamfering operation will overlap to some extent the tooth cutting operation so that the total amount of time required for the production of a gear is reduced. VSuch overlapping of these operations would obviously be difficult to effect if the operator were relied upon to determine the precise instant at whichl the chamfering operation should begin. It will nevertheless be appreciated that the tool described and claimed herein is not limited to use in such a machine. f

Further objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying draw.- ings, in which v Figure 1 is a front elevation of a complete forming and finishing machine of the character disclosed in our prior application, and employing a tool of the typ'e described and claimed'herein;

It is thus possible to` initiater Figure 5 and iuustrating a slighuy modied form of the invention;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary View in end elevation of the chamfering element shown in Figure '7;

Figure 9 is a sectional view corresponding to that shown in Figure 6 but illustrating the mode of cooperation of the modied form of ch'amfering element and unhardened gear shown in Figure.'1;,and

. Figure 10 is a sectional view through the axis of the chamfering element shown in Figure 7.

MFor convenience in describing the invention, reference is made to the several embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specific language is employed. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of vthe invention is thereby intended, but that various further modifications'and alterations are contemplated such as would occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring first to Figure 1 of the drawings which discloses the principal elements of the gear forming and chamfering machine illustrated and claimed in our aforesaid prior application,

it willbe observed that the bed of the machine, indicated generally at 20, is supported on a base 2|` and is provided with a head stock 23 and a tail stock 24, the latter being carried on an upper support or over-arm for displacement toward and from the head stock by means of a link 22 and crank handle 30, the tail stock being lockedin position by manipulation of a lever 26. A work holder or chuck 21 associated with the head stock 23 and rotated by a shaft 28 cooperates with a spindle 29 of the tail stock to support a gear blank for rotation von the axis thereof. The completed Work is represented in Figure 1 as constituting a gear cluster for use in an automobile transmission, the gear cluster comprising a sleeve 3l on which are formed gears 32 and 33, the formation and chamfering of the latter gear being illustrated.

The bed 2l) of the machine supports a conventional reciprocating carriage on which is mounted a tool support including bearing blocks 31 and 33 in which may be rotatably mounted a cutting tool such as a hob 49, suitable means being f provided for rotating the hob, the tool support and the carriage 35 being provided with cooperating guide means 4l whereby the hob may be properly positioned initially on the carriage.

The hobbing operation may be performed in the conventional manner by displacement of the carriage 35 on the bed 20 from right to left as viewed in Figure l whereby the hob may be fed into and may traverse the portion of the gear blank on which the gear 33 is to be formed, the blank being rotated in timed relation to the reciprocating movement of the carriage and hob and the rotational speed of the hob. The details of the construction thus far described form no part of the present invention.

The apparatus for finishing the gear teeth by chamfering the ends thereof and removing burrs therefrom as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 is carried by the over-arm 25 of the machine, for instance by means of a supporting bracket 43 having an arm 45 which is bolted as at 44 to the over-arm. Bracket 43 may be provided at its upper end with a anged portion 41 to which is secured the supporting flange 48 of a cylinder 49. The bracket 43 may also be provided with a downwardly and forwardly projecting portion 5l which is recessed as at 52 to form rectilinear guides which receive a reciprocating member 53, the cooperating guide portions 54 of the reciprocating member being retained in position by means of guide plates 55 which are secured to the guide portion 5I of the bracket 43 as indicated at 56. At its upper end the member 53 is secured to a piston rod 58, the piston rod extendingV into the lower end of the cylinder 49 and being connected therein to a piston 6| which may reciprocate in the cylinder in the conventional manner. At its lower end the member 53 is formed to provide one arm 63 of a tool support yoke, the other arm 64 of the yoke being secured to the member 53 by means of a bolt 65 extending therethrough. f

The yoke arms 63 and 64 are apertured as indicated at 61 to receive a stud 63, the stud 69 having a generally cylindrical portion 10 which is adapted to receive a chamfering tool 1i which may be shrunk in position on the stud, the tool 1I engaging at one side an annular flange 13 formed on the stud, and at the other side the flange portion 14 of a collar 15 which is received on the stud and retained in position therein by means of a nut 18 threaded on the end portion 19 of the stud. 'Ihe stud 69 is further provided adjacent the opposite end thereof with an'enlarged cylindrical portion 89, and the portion of the stud and the collar 15 are mounted for free rotation in the aligned apertures 61 of the arms 63 and 64, bushings 82 being preferably employed.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing descriptive matter is merely illustrative of one method of using the tool described and claimed herein, and that the details of the structure thus Ear described form no part of the instant invention. i

The tool 1l may be formed in one piece but is preferably constructed to afford a hub portion on the opposite ends of which are shrunk the hardened annular elements 85. The peripheral portions of the elements are formed with teeth 86 which are constructed for meshing engagement with the teeth of the gear 33 which is being formed and finished.

The teeth 86 are preferably deformed to provide generally radial protuberances 81, as illustrated more particularly in Figures 5 and 6, so as to supply pressure to the opposed portions of the working faces of the teeth of the relatively soft gear 33 to deform the latter when the gear and tool are rolled together in meshing relation. The teeth of the gear 33 are thereby deformed so that the edge or arris formed by the intersection of the working faces and the lateral ends of the gear teeth is more or less flattened. Thus these gear tooth ends are in effect chamfered, the material of which the gear teeth are formed being displaced laterally or swaged over With "the resultant vformation ofr projections 89 at the lateral ends of the gear teeth.

The protuberances 81 on the teeth of the `tool 'H are preferably formed by curving the working faces of the tool teeth, whereby the circumferential end edges of the opposed teeth of the gear 33 are rounded. Nevertheless the operation on the gear teeth is essentially one of flattening the end edges, it being appreciated that the rounded contour of the lateral ends of the gear teeth upon completion of the operation is substantially flatter than is the initial sharply angled edge or arris formed by the cutting of the teeth in the blank. Obviously the protuberances 81 may be of diiferentshape from that shown in the drawing, the relatively soft teeth of the gear 33 being swaged to the corresponding shape when the gear and tool are rolled together.

The hub portion of the tool 'l'l is illustrated as provided with an annular flange 90 disposed intermediate the annular toothed elements 85, and the peripheral portion of this flange may be roughened or knurled, the flange being of sufiicientY diameter to engage the central portions of the outer ends of the teeth when the tool isv rolled With the gear 33. It will be observed that by reason of the difference between the diameter of the knurled portion and the effective diameters of the annular toothed elements 85 as determined by the pitch circles thereof, the knurled portion of the tool will have less linear speed than the outer ends of the teeth of the gear 33 with which Ait engages, and thus a scrubbing or grinding action will result to effect removal from the outer ends of the gear teeth of any rough edges or burrs which may be formed by the action of the hob 4U. The removal of these burrs, both on the outer ends and on the end edges of the teeth is extremely important, it being essenti-al, particularly in the processing of gears for use in closed lubrication systems such as are employed in the change speed gearing of automobiles, that the breaking olf of fragments of the teeth and the wearing away of any burrs formed during cutting be avoided. It `will also be observed that the knurled portion of the tool by engagement with the ends of the gear teeth limits the movement into the gear of the tool and thereby the extentto which the annular toothed elements 85 act in chamfering the gear teeth.

Under some circumstances it may be desired to provide chamfering teeth 86 at one side only of the tool 1I and in the event a gear having twisted or helical teeth is being formed and iinished, the teeth 86 will ordinarily vbe arranged so as to effect chamfering of those end edges of the teeth which are more acutely angled since such edges are more likely yto be formed with an initial burr by the cutting of the teeth and are much more subject to fracture in operation than are the obtuse angled edges.

It will further be appreciated that where grinding or scrubbing of the outer circumference of the teeth is not desired, and the roughened central portion of the tool may thus be dispensed with, the teeth of the tool may extend continuously from one side face thereof to the other, either one or both ends of these teeth being deformed to effect corresponding deformation of the gear undergoing treatment.

In a swaging or chamfering operation such as that hereinbefore described, it is frequently desirable to remove the material displaced laterally of the teeth and forming the projections functioning in a generally 'similar manner.

89, particularly since .these projections constitute burrs in'thern'selves which `are likely to chip off and act as an abrasive, resulting in excessive wear of the cooperating Working .surfaces of the teeth in an assembled gear train. This excess metal is preferably removed by a cutting operation, and-for this purpose the yoke arms'63 and 64 may be provided with downwardly extending projections 92 which may be formed separately from the -yoke arms and secured thereto by 'welding. Each of the projections 92 is slotted as indicated at 94 to receive 'a cutting tool 95, 'these cutting tools being adjustable 'toward or away from each other Within the respective recesses 94l and being retained in yposition by means of set screws 96 or the like. vAs shown more particularly in Figure 3 vof the drawings, the working ends of the tools are arranged to simultaneously engage the opposite ends of each tooth of the gear 33 as the latter rotates, one of the cutting tools being preferably disposed at a lslightly lower point than the other tool inthe event the teethof the gear 33 are lhelical or twisted, end- Wise pressure on the gear being thus Ybalanced v by the simultaneously applied and oppositely directed pressure exerted by the cutting tools on the opposite endsof each gear tooth.

By-suitable means, for example'that disclosed in ourv prior application aforesaid, air under pressure is admitted to 'the lupper end of the cylinder 49 and the piston '6l moves downwardly to lengage the lchamfering tool 1| and the cutting tools 95 with the gear 33, pressure being applied to a sufficient extent to ensure proper meshing engagement 'of the Ytool teeth '86 with the teeth of the gear v33. The tool "Il, is accordingly rolled on` and by the gearA 33 and the chamfering and burring action hereinbefore described is effected. While this operation is being performed, the tool support and the `hob 4U carried thereby continue their movement. Ultimately the upper end .of the cylinder is evacuated and the member 53 and the c'hamfering `and cutting tools carried thereby are accordingly withdrawn :from engagement with the gear 33 into the inoperative position.

The operation of' forming 'and finishing the gear 33' is now completed, 'the lgear may be removed from the machine, andthe carriage 35, the tool support, and the hob 40 may be displ-aced toward the right as viewed in Figure 1 in readiness for Aoperation on another gear. Suitable gearing, illustratedin our prior application, maybe provided to yestablish the proper timed relation between lthe rotational movement of the -hob on its own axis, the translational movement of the hob, and the rotational movelrient4 of the gear 33 during the bobbing operaion;

, Figures 7 to 10 inclusive illustrate a modified form of tool which is lin some respects an improvement on that heretofore described although As shown more particularly vin Figure' 10 the tool may be mounted on the cylindrical portion 'lll of the stud 69 andr is retained'in' position thereon by the collar 'I5 as in the construction heretofore described. The hub portion 225 of the tool receives hardened annular elements 224:` and 221 which are provided with toothed peripheral portions as indicated'at 228 and 229. One of the annular elements, forinstance the element 226,v

is secured on the hub 225 of v the tool against rotation withy respect thereto, for instance `by means of a key230. The other Iannular element 221 is supported on the hub 225 for rotative adjustment with respect thereto. The means for effecting this adjustment may assume various forms and the details thereof form no essential part of the present invention.

For example, the element 221 may be apertured as indicated at 232 and an axially directed lug 233 formed on the radially extending portion 235 of the hub 225 may extend outwardly into the aperture 232. The element 221 may be further recessed as indicated at 231 at points on each side of and spaced from the aperture 232, leaving the axially directed ribs 238 Which are threaded to receive bolts 239, the heads of these bolts lying Within the recesses 231 and being accessible with a tool, and the ends of the bolts engaging the lug 233. It is apparent that by adjustment of the bolts 239, the annular element 221 may be rotatively or angularly adjusted on the hub 225 of the tool and securely retained in any desired position of adjustment.

The teeth formed on the peripheral portions 228 and 229 of the annular elements are arranged to engage with the ends of the teeth of the gear 33, but are not constructed for meshing engagement with the latter, the nature of the engagement being illustrated more particularly in Figure 9. Thus each of the tool teethV are bevelled or chamfered as indicated at 24U so as to engage and apply generally circumferential pressure to the opposite ends of the teeth of the gear 33 as the tool and the gear are rotated together in operative relation, andthe acute angled portions at the ends of the gear teeth are deformed and flattened, metal being displaced laterally with resultant formation of projections 242 at the ends of the gear teeth which may be removed by cutting elements such as shown more-particularly in Figure 3. In general the working surfaces 240 of the tool teeth are substantially flat and define planes approximately normal to the pitch circles of the toothed portions. The thickness of the teeth of the toothed portions is substantially less than the spaces between adjacent gear teeth so that the desired adjustment can be effected without difficulty.

It will be observed that the extent to which deformation or flattening of the gear teeth ends is carried out may be varied in this form of the invention by relative rotative adjustment of the annular elements 221 and 226 and the shape of the finished gear teeth may thereby be controlled in accordance with the purpose for which the gear is to be subsequently used. It will of course be understood that .the radially extending portion 235 of the tool hub may be knurled as indicated at 243, this knurled portion serving to remove any burrs from the outer ends of the teeth of the gear 33 and to limit the extent to which the tool is moved toward and into operative engagement with the gear. It is apparent that with this form of construction careful cutting of the toothed portions of the tool to establish proper meshing relation with the gear is unnecessary and the expense of producing the tool may be correspondingly reduced. Furthermore, as wear occurs the two toothed elements of the tool may be relatively adjusted to the extent necessary to ensure correct chamfering of the gear teeth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the lateral and edges of the teeth of an unhardened gear, said element having toothed portions at each lateral end thereof constructed for meshing relation with said gear, the Working faces of the teeth of said element being formed to apply pressure to the gear teeth in a direction generally normal to the working faces of the latter when the element is rolled with the gear, said element having a roughened portion intermediate said toothed portions for engagement with the outer circumferential ends of the teeth of the latter.

2. As an article of" manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the lateral end edges of the teeth of an unhardened toothed gear, said element having axially spaced toothed portions for rolling engagement with the laterally opposite ends of the gear teeth, and means for effecting relative angular adjustment of said toothed portions to Vary the extent of deformation of the gear tooth end edges.

3. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the lateral end edges of the teeth of an unhardened gear, said element having toothed portions at each lateral end thereof constructed for meshing relation with said gear, the working faces of the teeth of said element being formed to apply pressure to the gear teeth in a direction generally normal to the Working faces of the latter when the element is rolled with the gear, said element having a roughened portion intermediate said toothed portions for engagement with the outer circumferential ends of the teeth of the latter, said roughened portion being generally cylindrical and of less diameter than the pitch circles of the said toothed portions.

4. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the lateral end edges of the teeth of an unhardened toothed gear, said element having axially spaced toothed portions for rolling engagement with the laterally opposite ends of the gear teeth, the teeth of said toothed portions having generally flattened working surfaces defining planes approximatelynormal to the pitch circles of the said toothed portions.

5. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the lateral-end edges of the teeth of an unhardened toothed gear, said element having axially spaced toothed portions for rolling engagement with the laterally opposite ends of the gear teeth, the teeth comprising said toothed portions being of less thickness than the spaces intermediate the teeth of the unhardened gear, said toothed portions being disposed in such angular relation as to simultaneously engage gear teeth edges formed by the intersection of opposite working faces with opposite side faces of the gear, and to apply the pressure thereto necessary to produce deformation to the desired extent.

6. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the end edges of the teeth of an unhardened toothed member, said element having a hub portion, and having axially spaced toothed portions for rolling engagement with the opposite ends of the teeth of said member, said toothed portions being formed to apply pressure to the teeth of said member in a direction generally normal to the working faces of the latter when the element is rolled with the member.

7. As an article of manufacture, an element for effecting deformation and flattening of the end edges of the teeth of an unhardened toothed member, said element having a hub portion, and having axially spaced toothed portions for rolling engagement With the opposite ends of the teeth of said member, said toothed portions being formed to apply pressure to the teeth of said member in a direction generally normal to the Working faces of the latter when the element is rolled with the member, said toothed portions being shrunk on said hub portion.

8. As an article of manufacture, an element for eiecting removal of burrs from the outer circumferential ends of the teeth of an unhardened toothed member, said element having a generally cylindrical roughened surface for engagement with the tooth ends, and having a toothed portion dimensioned for rotative meshing engagement with said toothed member, the relative diameters of said roughened surface and said toothed portion being such that the said roughened surface is rotated at a linear speed slightly different from the linear speed of the tooth ends 10 of the member.

HARRY L. BARTER. JOHN M. CHRISTMAN. 

